Sanitary shoe cover of the type having a conductive sole



March 14, 1967 H. zlMMoN l y 3,308,562

SANITARY SHOE COVER OF THE TYPE HAVING A CONDUCTIVE SOLE Filed June 22,1964 3 7 INVENTOR H HOLD Z//l/l/i//O/V @YM/Mraz@ A rfa/mns vverticallyabove the sole.

United States E"Patent 3,308,562 SANITARY SHOE COVER F THE TYPE HAVING ACONDUCTIVE SOLE Harold Zimmon, 829 Edgewood Road, Redwood City, Calif.94062 Filed June 22, 1964, Ser. No. 376,999 2 Claims. (Cl. 367.1)

This invention relates to an improved sanitary shoe cover of the typehaving a conductive sole. The use of such shoe covers in surgicaloperating rooms and in chemical works is by now Well known, aparticularly good one being described in the patent application by SaronA. Pen-ce, Ser. No. 827,992, filed July 15, 1959. The present inventionrelates to improvements in this Pence shoe cover.

Typically, these shoe covers have a sole of cloth-reinforced elastomercontaining graphite so that the sole is conductive; the walls andportions which cover the shoe have typically been made of strong cloththat is sewn to the sole and overlaps enough to protect the shoe frombodyruids and other staining agents. The covers can be used, washed,re-used, rewashed and use-d again for many cycles, their life largelybeing limited by wear. An important aspect of Wear has been thestitching which joined the canvas or fabric top to the conductive rubbern sole. In early designs the stitching was located in accordance withease of manufacture and simplicity, and the result was that the userWalked directly on the stitching. Whether the stitching was ordinarythread or special thread, it soon wore out, and the shoe cover had to bediscarded.

This wear problem was apparently solved by the provision of a weltingthat protected the stit-ching, the welting being stitched to the soleand the top being stitched to the welting. This construction located thestitching where it could not be directly walked on. However, thiswelting projected out laterally all around the foot, as a flat rimsurrounding the shoe sole and imparting a peculiar appearance to thewearer, like a `web foot. More significantly, this outward projection ofthe welting has been found to constitute a safety hazard, because thesurgeons and nurses tended to step on their own or anothers welting,with resultant tripping, stumbling and other awkwardness. Of course,awkwardness cannot be tolerated in laboratories or in surgical operatingrooms, where these shoes are commonly used, for the slightest unsurenessof hand and the slightest unbalance or slipping may cause serious injuryto the patient or even to the other doctors and nurses present.

Consequently, it is an object of this present invention to provide anovel shoe cover that has a connective rubber sole and in which longwear is obtained by a novel structure which is not conducive toawkwardness and is not a safety hazard. An intermediate welting betweenthe shoe cover and the sole is so arranged that it raises the stitchingfor the sole away from the plane of the sole and holds it The structureof this invention provides the user with a more dressy appearance whileat the same time accomplishing the far more important effect of safety.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description of a preferred form thereof.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspe-ctive of a sanitary shoe cover withconductive sole embodying the principles of this invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view in perspective showing an initialstitching of the welt to itself.

FIG. 3 is a similar view showing the Welt stitched to the sole.

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FIG. 4 is a similar view showing the shoe upper stitched to the weltingsubsequent to the step of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged View of a portion of. the completedconnection between the sole, the welting and the cover or top.

FIG. 6 is a view in rear elevation of the shoe cover.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view in elevation Iand in section taken alongthe line 7-7 in FIG. 6.

FIG. 1 shows a shoe cover 10 embodying the principles of the inventionand having a conductive rubber sole 11 with a conductive rubber strip ortongue 12 extending from the heel 13 of the sole 11 up inside the cover10 and beyondit and ready to be tu-cked inside the users shoe forgrounding the users body to the conductive rubber sole 11. Ashoe-encasing textile sidewall 14 is provided by a single piece withoverlap, and a welting 15 connects the sidewall 14 to the sole 11. Apair of ties 16, 17 enable the user to tighten the cover 10 on his shoeafter inserting the shoe in the cover 10.

The conductive sole 11 is cut out to shape from sheets ofcloth-reinforced conductive rubber; it may simply be a long oval. Thestrip or tongue 12 may he integral with it, but preferably is a separaterectangular strip with its end 18 folded over and placed against theheel 13 of the sole 11 and then stitched to it at the same time that thewelting 15 is stitched to the sole 11 and by the same stitch.

The welting 15 is a very important part of the invention. It comprisestextile fabric, such as a canvas duck, having au elastomer (syntheticrubber) filling or coating; it could be called a rubberized cloth. It isimportant to note that plastic welting strips do not work; they do nothave the desired stiffness and hence tend to sag into the webfootlikeprojections which caused the problems already mentioned. Nor do ordinarycloth welting strips work satisfactorily. The stiffness of therubberized cloth welting 15 used in this invention enables it to retainit-s initiallyimparted vertical attitude when properly sewn into place.The important thing is that it does not sag and fall down and form ahorizontal extension of the foot.

This welting 15 is a single strip and the first step in making theassembly is to -turn it over at a fold 20 along one edge 21 and stitchto itself by stitches 22 (FIG. 2) to provide extra stiffness at the fold2d, which now becomes the edge of the welting and also makes it easierto handle later.

Next (FIG. 3), the welting 15 is stitched to the conductive rubber sole11 by stitches 23, which directly overlie the rst line of stitching 22for the sake of both appearance and structural rigidity. The weltingstrip 15 is brought up in the back at 24 and 25 -on both sides (see FIG.6), so that it overlaps, While raising itself up above the heel level 13at this point, securing it both to the sole 11 and to the conductiverubber strip 12 and securing the strip 12 to the sole 11 at this point.

The textile portion 14 is cut out in a blank from a single piece ofcloth, and preferably a fabric welting 25 is sewn to the top edgethereof by a stitch 26. Then the portion 14 is placed around thesole-welting assembly so that the portion 14 overlaps on the front, andits lower margin 27 is then sewn to the welting 15 adjacent the edge 28by a second line of stitching 29, which is spaced about one-half inchfrom the lower line 22, 23, this being most of the width of the welting15. Then the cover portion 14 is folded over as in FIG. 5.

The finished structure provides a pleasing appearance aud structuralrigidity, and it raises the sole seam 23 and welt seam 22 away from thefloor. The overlap of the portion 14 at the front acts to fully encase ashoe, so that the dropping of body fluids onto the shoe is interceptedby the shoe cover 10.

Preferably, the ties 16, 17 are sewn to the opposite sides of thetextile portion 14 either before or after the portion 14 is stitched tothe welting 15.

In use, the person puts the cover on his shoe while the ties 16, 17 areloose, there being plenty of slack for this, and then he takes the longfree strip or tongue 12 and tucks it down inside his sock. This getsdirect contact with the skin and acts to ground his body to theconductive sole 11 and thence to the floor. With this on, the ties 16,17 are then tied with a simple bowknot, thereby both securing thearticle to the shoe and ensuring coverage of the shoe by the fabric.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, manychanges in construction and widely dilering embodiments and applicationsof the invention will suggest themselves without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and the descriptionherein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any senselimiting.

I claim:

1. A sanitary shoe cover comprising a normally flat sole having aperipheral edge bent vertically upward, a textile cover portion forenclosing the upper portion of a shoe, having a reversely, inwardly bentbottom edge, a welting of textile fabric lled with a filler to importbodily stiffness thereto while leaving a measure of ilexibility, saidwelting having one edge hemmed with a first line of stitching to form ahem to receive said ller and being sewn adjacent said hemmed edge tosaid peripheral edge of said sole along a horizontal second line ofstitching which substantially overlies said first line of stitching andbeing sewn adjacent its other edge to said bottom edge of said coverportion along a horizontal third line of stitching, said cover portionhaving an outer periphery spaced outwardly beyond said peripheral edgeof said sole and of said welting, said welting extending vertically allaround said sole between said peripheral edgefof said sole and saidbottom edge of said cover portion.

2. A method of making a sanitary shoe cover of the type having a soleand a textile cover portion for enclosing the upper portion of a shoe,comprising the steps of hernming one edge of a welting strip of textilefabric filled with a ller to impart bodily stiffness thereto whileleaving a measure of flexibility, sewing said hernmed edge of saidwelting strip to the peripheral edge of said sole, and sewing the otheredge of said welting strip t-o said cover portion with said coverportion extending under said sole and directed inwardly toward thecenter of said sole, and then erecting said cover by pulling said coverportion outwardly and upwardly to vertical position, bending saidperipheral edge of said sole upward relative to said sole, bending thebottom edge of said cover portion reversely inward, and erecting saidwelting strip with said first mentioned edge downward and said weltingstrip vertically upward, said cover portion being the peripherallyoutermost portion of said cover.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,550,334 4/1951Dahlhouser 36--9 2,958,012 lil/1960 Melman et al. 36-7.1 X 3,013,18412/1961 Adams 317-2 PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL BERNSTEIN, Examiner.

I. SlLVERMAN, Assistant Examiner.

1. A SANITARY SHOE COVER COMPRISING A NORMALLY FLAT SOLE HAVING APERIPHERAL EDGE BENT VERTICALLY UPWARD, A TEXTILE COVER PORTION FORENCLOSING THE UPPER PORTION OF A SHOE, HAVING A REVERSELY, INWARDLY BENTBOTTOM EDGE, A WELTING OF TEXTILE FABRIC FILLED WITH A FILLER TO IMPORTBODILY STIFFNESS THERETO WHILE LEAVING A MEASURE OF FLEXIBILITY, SAIDWELTING HAVING ONE EDGE HEMMED WITH A FIRST LINE OF STITCHING TO FORM AHEM TO RECEIVE SAID FILLER AND BEING SEWN ADJACENT SAID HEMMED EDGE TOSAID PERIPHERAL EDGE OF SAID SOLE ALONG A HORIZONTAL SECOND LINE OFSTITCHING WHICH SUBSTANTIALLY OVERLIES SAID FIRST LINE OF STITCHING ANDBEING SEWN ADJACENT ITS OTHER EDGE TO SAID BOTTOM EDGE OF SAID COVERPORTION ALONG A HORIZONTAL THIRD LINE OF STITCHING, SAID COVER PORTIONHAVING AN OUTER PERIPHERY SPACED OUTWARDLY BEYOND SAID PERIPHERAL EDGEOF SAID SOLE AND OF SAID WELTING, SAID WELTING EXTENDING VERTICALLY ALLAROUND SAID SOLE BETWEEN SAID PERIPHERAL EDGE OF SAID SOLE AND SAIDBOTTOM EDGE OF SAID COVER PORTION.